Sylvie POV

I could not believe I was at the Elven Camp. Instead of the familiar faces I expected, the camp was filled with Goblins ravaging about. Many Elves had already fallen and some tents burned. The capable and healthy Elves remaining helped evacuate the injured and fend off the Goblins, but they were unable to contain the sheer number of the Goblins. The attackers not only composed of regular Goblins and Goblin Archers, but also Black Goblins. Black Goblins held the same characteristics as regular Goblins except for their darker skin and higher health, speed, and power.

We fought our way to find Salvador fighting in the front lines.

“What’s going on?” asked Hawk.

“A Goblin Camp appeared in the middle of the Elven Camp. Hordes of Goblins are coming out from it.” explained Father.

“This is even worse than I expected…” uttered Hawk in an irritated tone.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I considered the possibility of at least one Goblin Camp that couldn’t be detected when you mentioned about the empty Goblin Camp you sealed. But for the Goblin Camp in the Elven Camp itself…”

If the hidden Goblin Camp were in a different location, we could probably make it in time, but because it was directly in the camp, we were too late.

“This Elven Camp is over with… we will fight to buy as much time as possible for the medics to evacuate the injured.”

“You will die before you can evacuate everyone!” exclaimed Hawk in an unusual angry tone.

“I know. That is why I will request you to take Sylvie with you and get back to Naut City.”

I wanted to refuse. I hated Father’s decision, but I had no choice but to respect it. Even I could see that the evacuation had no option but failure. The only logical option was to run. Hawk’s silence implied that he would follow Father’s request as well. The other Players were likely thinking about the options we had, but they could not think of any at all.

Hawk did not speak a word as we moved a distance away from Salvador while continuing to fight. After two minutes, Hawk finally broke the silence.

“Is there an Ancient Elven Spell for Invisibility?” asked Hawk.

“Yes. It’s called Lover’s Isolation. It allows the user and one other person to become invisible. Unlike other invisibility, attacking or using Abilities did not disable the invisibility, but of course, enemies will realize your presence and attempt to attack if you do.” I explained.

“Tch… Only one. I don’t want to do this. But I guess I have no choice. Can you use it now?”

“Yes. But I just used Betrayer’s Word this afternoon, so I would no longer be able to even cast Elven Spells after I do.”

“Sigh... we’ll use it to sneak into the Goblin Camp and destroy the pillar.” said Hawk.

“That’s dangerous!” Canary immediately reacted.

Even with five people, the Goblin Camp was already difficult, yet Hawk wanted to tackle the Goblin Camp with only two people, not to mention that I could not fight at full potential and the Goblins here were more powerful.

“But if we succeed, it is the path that minimizes casualties.”

“Can I trust you on this?” I asked Hawk.

“Yes.” Replied Hawk with a resolute tone.

“Then let’s do it.” I betted.

Hawk smirked and whispered, “There’s no difference. In either world, you do not need to be confident. You just have to make people think you’re confident.”

We fought our way towards the entrance of the Goblin Camp. When Father noticed, this he simply placed his hand on his face and shook his head in dismay.

I began casting Lover’s Isolation. While concentrating on the spell, I could still hear the others talking on the background.

“Be careful!” said Canary in an obviously faked cheerful tone.

“Don’t die.” said Crow with the same indifferent voice.

Before Dove could speak, Hawk interrupted her and said, “Dove. Can I embrace you before I go?”

While Hawk words seemed like a joke, his tone was serious.

Dove took a deep breath and replied with a smile, “No. You can embrace me once you return.”

Hawk appeared quite surprised by Dove’s reply and remained silent. After finishing the casting, I found Hawk smiling.

“Then I’ll look forward to it.” these were the words Hawk said before we turned invisible.

The rest of the Party aided the evacuation to minimize casualties and for worst-case scenario that we failed.

Because Lover’s Isolation did not conceal the targets from touch, we made sure that we would not come into contact with the Goblins. Naturally, we grabbed unto the walls and moved slowly and steadily deeper.

Once we reached the open area, things became much easier. Goblins no longer occupied every nook and cranny of the camp. We reached the mud pit without many difficulties.

While the mud pit would not hinder our movements, the mud would alert the Goblins of our presence. While most of the Goblins the Player’s fought were unthinking mindless creatures, intelligent Goblins did exist. In fact, Goblin Knights and the Goblins above them were said to be as smart as Elven royalty. Due to the relatively higher level of this Goblin Camp than the others, an intelligent Goblin definitely dwelled here.

Our thoughts were interrupted when a Goblin approached us from the Mud Pit. The Goblin was fully equipped with a sword, shield, helmet, and armor. It was a Goblin Knight.

“[email protected]#$%^&*()_+” said the Goblin in its tongue.

“What did he say?” asked Hawk.

The Goblin tongue-Gobledgack- was a language understood by all Goblins regardless of their stupidity. Ever since the war against the Goblins, Elves thoroughly researched the Goblin culture and Gobledgack lessons were available in Elven Schools. I personally had learned about the language and can understand but not speak it.

“He said, ‘I may be only talking to the air like an idiot, but I’m sure one of the Elves could use Ancient Elven Spells.’”

“I’m attacking the Goblin Knight. Head straight for the pillar.” said Hawk.

As I was about to question whether he could defeat the Goblin Knight, I hesitated due to the sheer excitement Hawk showed. Without waiting for my reply, he drew his swords and leapt towards the Goblin Knight.

Hawk used Skadi’s Caress in the last moments before he landed and fired off a barrage of attacks with his surprise attack, removing a third of the Goblin Knight’s Health.

Taking advantage of this, I ran immediately towards the pillar and started attacking away at it.

The other Goblins had realized our presence and changed their targets to Hawk. He smirked and continued to fight the Goblin Knight to a stalemate. Neither could land a hit on the other.

Before the other Goblins could draw close to Hawk, I had destroyed the pillar. All the Goblins went into their paralyzed state after this as the camp began collapsing. However, one Goblin continued fighting. The Goblin Knight remained unaffected by the pillar’s collapse and continued fighting Hawk and prevented our escape.

Assisting Hawk, I went after the Goblin Knight as well. As I did, the Goblin Knight screeched. I lost sight of my surroundings. Everything became pitch black. All I could hear were sounds of Health damage away from me.

As time went on, more and more sounds of blades clashing reached my ears. I realized what happened. This was… an Ancient Elven Spell: Cheater’s Curse. This spell inflicted Status Effect: Blind to all nearby enemies if the enemies outnumbered the user. Cheater’s Curse bypassed the target’s resistance and immunity to Blind and was uncurable. The only way to remove it was having the caster remove it or killing the caster.

So why? Why was a Goblin capable of using Ancient Elven Spells? As the questioned bogged my mind, my sight finally returned to me.

Dove POV

Minutes after the camp began collapsing Hawk and Sylvie returned. As we ran closer towards them, Hawk immediately embraced me tightly.

I did say I would do so, but it was hard to breath due to how tight he was holding me. As I considered pushing him away a little, I noticed his hands on my back. They were trembling. While his face did not show it, Hawk was afraid. It was likely he was trying to hide his fear from the other people.

“That thing the Goblin used felt the same as when you used an Ancient Elven Spell?” asked Hawk with an uncharacteristic irritated tone.

“Yes. That was without a doubt Cheater’s Curse, an Ancient Elven Spell.” replied Sylvie with a panicked face.

“So why the hell can a Goblin use it?” asked Hawk in an angry tone.

“I don’t know.” replied Sylvie.

Sylvie was not in a proper state of mind. She couldn’t understand why a Goblin could use an Ancient Elven Spell. Sylvie merely stood there not knowing what to do or think.

“Stop! Sylvie is tired don’t pester her any further.”

Soon after, the other Parties returned and found the Elven Camp in shambles. Hawk explained what happened and the other Parties apologized for being unable to help. Including us, the Players helped in the reestablishment of the Elven Camp.

As the night grew deeper, more and more Parties returned back to Naut City. By midnight, we were all that remained. Crow had returned with the other Parties as well.

As Canary helped out in the camp reestablishment in her own little ways, Hawk and I used the Tent we had bought a few days prior beside the River in the Elven Camp.

“We need to talk.” I said.

Hawk nodded in compliance. We entered the tent and locked the entrance to prevent people from overhearing us.

“It is not like you to get angered or be afraid. What happened?” I asked.

“I almost died.” answered Hawk frankly.

“Even so, it’s still not like you. When we fought the Sewerberus, you weren’t like this.”

“Let me phrase that again. I survived by luck.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There’s no need for you to understand, just stay by my side.”

I instinctively slapped Hawk without thinking of the repercussions. Instead of being hurt, he instead showed a face of surprise.

“Why did you slap me?”

“Are you stupid?! What do you mean I don’t need to understand! Stop taking everything by yourself! I’m here to help you.”

“Telling you won’t change anything.”

A logical answer. I knew it was coming. Hawk could argue his way through any conflict with perfect twisted logic.

“But it will surely make you feel better! At least let me share the burden of knowledge!” I exclaimed.

Continuing to look at me with a surprised face, Hawk finally gave in and said with a smile, “I guess I can’t win against you.”

Hawk moved and sat beside me and explained, “After the Sewerberus fight, the fear did not come to me because I won through my own skill and effort. Even if I were to do it multiple times again, I would always emerge victorious.”

At this point, I already understood what Hawk was getting at. He stopped speaking and looked at me waiting for me to continue the conversation.

“And?”

“You can already figure it out.”

“Who knows whether my guess is correct?”

“After being blinded by the Ancient Elven Spell, I did my best to predict the Goblin’s attacks and fought as hard as possible, yet my Health slowly lowered without being able to counter attack back. I only won in the end because the rocks falling from the ceiling never landed on me but on the Goblin as well as forcing the Goblin to move in a more predictable way.”

You fought a high-level Goblin without sight. Wait, if the cave was collapsing, then he wouldn’t be able to hear properly either. Are you for real?

Hawk moved even closer to me and rested his head on my shoulders.

“If it happens again, then I don’t think I can survive. That is why I was afraid. That is why I blamed Sylvie. I kept thinking that if she helped me instead of standing there confused, I wouldn’t be at risk of dying.”

I held his hand. Unlike the other times when Hawk grabbed my hand, our fingers intertwined. The heartbeat from his palms transmitted to me. It beat faster than any other heartbeat I ever felt.

“But you survived. That’s all that matters. Just try harder next time.”

Smiling at me, Hawk said, “Maybe I should trust my luck more. After all, she brought you to the same city as I and now saved me from death.”

“Just don’t completely rely on her. The only person you’re allowed to completely rely on is me.” I answered in a joking town.

“Is it alright? To share my burdens with you?”

“No. I don’t need you to share it. I want you to share it.”